Last week, Mercedes and recording artist will.i.am teased a one-off creation to be revealed at the Miami Grand Prix, and we immediately wondered if there was an angle from which this car would look sexy. Then the actual reveal happened and we saw that it's a challenging thing to look at no matter your vantage point. Based on a four-door Mercedes-AMG GT 63, it had a lot of potential for aesthetic greatness but the addition of a G-Class-inspired front end creates a look that we can't honestly call cohesive. Of course, some love its design, but whatever your opinion, will.i.am deserves respect for getting hands-on through every part of the design and build process.
The celebrity designer and car enthusiast recently took to Instagram to share some behind-the-scenes images and videos from his time creating the car, showing that he penned the design himself and even got involved with creating parts for the car. Part of this involved learning how to lay down carbon fiber, and the entire experience has been labeled "a dream come true" and "the best creative experience" that he's ever been a part of.
The finished product was unveiled at a lavish party chock-full of A-list celebrities including Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Hopefully, these high-rollers were encouraged to support the project that the car promotes, namely "The Flip."
"The Flip - Innovation for Purpose" is a project that aims to give students from disadvantaged communities a step up by providing them with access to learning programs in STEAM subjects. STEAM refers to science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Whatever your feelings are towards the design of the car, you have to concede that there's no better way to make an idea go viral than by attaching it to something controversial, or in this case, something controversially styled. As a one-off, the car is unlikely to get snapped by car spotters very often, but we expect that its time in the limelight is not over yet and it will likely tour as part of future promotional projects to help the aforementioned youngsters.